Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240058
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: KIGALI, RWANDA LENGTH: Medium
The thin, ascetic Kagame - nicknamed Commander Pilate for his harsh treatment of wrongdoers - led what military analysts say was a brilliant campaign to oust the Hutu government, which had ignited the slaughter of up to 500,000 of his fellow Tutsis.
Since winning the war in early July, Kagame has stressed the prevention of reprisals and the rebuilding of a shattered Rwanda. Above all, he is calling on the Hutus and Tutsis to be one.
The 37-year-old Kagame, bespectacled and intense, admitted the tasks before him were monumental. He and the new government must attract large amounts of international aid and convince fearful Hutus - who make up 90 percent of the population - that they will be equal partners.
Kagame must curb revenge-thirsty Tutsis who, he admits, are committing atrocities, while at the same time bring Hutus responsible for the carnage to justice.
Analysts say he must avoid the temptation to hold on to power, a pattern that has brought bloodshed and economic ruin to one African country after another. If Kagame keeps to his stated course, he would be an exception rather than the rule on the continent.
``He knows what he wants for this country. I believe he means what he says,'' said Abdul Kabia, deputy head of the U.N. mission in Rwanda, who has known Kagame for years.
The prime minister and president of Rwanda's new government are Hutus. Although Kagame is only a vice president and defense minister, Kabia described him as ``the power behind the throne. Nothing of significance gets done in this country if he doesn't clear it.''
Kagame's influence flows from his command of the victorious Rwandan Patriotic Army, his personal qualities and a drive he attributes to life as a refugee who always wanted to return home.
Born in southern Rwanda, Kagame's family fled to neighboring Uganda in the wake of anti-Tutsi attacks when he was only 4. Although he grew up in refugee camps, he was able to attend high school in Uganda and Makerere University in Kampala.
Reportedly incensed by the injustices under the Ugandan government of Milton Obote, he dropped his studies to join the eventually victorious Ugandan rebel army, in which he rapidly rose to the position of intelligence chief.
Crespo Sebunya, a news editor of Uganda's Business World, wrote that Kagame developed a reputation for being both incorruptible and severe - even ruthless - in dealing with wrongdoers, even executing soldiers for robbery and treason. Kagame helped to plan the invasion of Rwanda from Ugandan soil, but the first offensive in 1990 failed. Kagame, who was taking an officers course at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., at the time, returned to take charge. A strict disciplinarian who neither drinks nor smokes, he forged a tough, lean force of between 10,000 to 14,000 soldiers that faced an army more than double its size.
The 14-week light infantry war already is being studied by military analysts.
Though he still wears his camouflage fatigues, most of Kagame's time these days is spent blueprinting the country's uncertain future.
``Whatever we do, we try to make sure it works in the direction of preventing the cycles of violence,'' he said. ``We have to be broad-minded in looking at problems we all face as Rwandese, rather than looking at ourselves as Tutsis or Hutus.''
by CNB